


Crumbling Pillars

by Iamthesmileyface



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Gen, Platonic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, platonic soulmates get marks, romantic soulmates get words
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-29 10:15:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7680475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iamthesmileyface/pseuds/Iamthesmileyface
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Colonel Roy Mustang's office phone is ringing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crumbling Pillars

Colonel Roy Mustang’s office phone is ringing. This isn’t unusual, and he wonders if it’s Hughes, calling again to gush about his family. It probably is. Roy loves the man, his literal platonic soulmate, but he’s exceedingly annoying quite a bit of the time. He glances at the little black pillar on his right wrist, just peeking out underneath his glove. When he and Hughes had met, in the academy, it had been a piece of quiche on a plate, and it hadn’t changed til Ishval.

In Ishval, it had been a bandage. Roy thinks that that’s all that needs to be said about that. After Ishval, it had changed again, becoming the little pillar that now adorned his wrist.

The phone kept ringing, and Roy sighs. He picks it up.

“Colonel Mustang speaking.” 

An operator’s voice answers him, rather than a general’s secretary or Hughes’s familiar cadence. “Lieutenant Colonel Hughes is calling from an outside line, sir.”

He straightens in his seat. “Put him through.”

The operator complies, and a click echoes through the phone. “What is it, Hughes?” Silence. “Hughes? Hughes! Dammit, Hughes, answer me!” 

The only  answer is a distinctive click and a dial tone in his ear. He drops the receiver, ripping his right glove off, his heart in his throat and fear tugging at his mind. A moment later, his fear is confirmed. The little black pillar turns, before his eyes, to a silvery grey. He stares at the mark, nearly uncomprehending. No. No, this couldn’t be happening, people like Hughes weren’t supposed to die! 

Hawkeye pokes her head through the door, worry written in the minute creases of her face. “Sir?”

He realizes then that he had spoken aloud. “He’s gone.” The words were ripped from him without his consent, his mouth moving before he could choose the words.

“Sir? What do you mean?”

“Hughes, Maes, he’s gone. He’s dead.”

Her eyes widen, comprehension striking her like a blow. She walks across the room, her footsteps measured and controlled, a familiar sound among the turmoil that is swirling through him. She places her hand on his shoulder and drew him up into a hug, resting one hand on the spot right over his heart where her first words to him lay. He tucks his face into her shoulder and let himself shake with suppressed sobs, uncaring of the open office door or their roles.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm sorry (no i'm not)


End file.
